* Globalization has helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, with the proportion of people in extreme poverty cut in half during the past 20 years* At the same time, advances in science, health care and technology have led to longer lifespans, better education and greater freedoms than ever before* Life expectancy worldwide is nearly 72 years – up from roughly 35 years during the Industrial Revolution – and global child mortality rates are at record lows

Zombie films are breaking records, apocalyptic plot lines seem to dominate TV and both sides of the political divide can’t seem to stop lamenting the demise of the civilized world as we know it.

But a closer look at the state of the world paints a rosier picture – with humankind better off, in myriad ways, than it has ever been before. Worldwide, life expectancies are up, child mortality rates are down and global income inequality has fallen, according to late Swedish academic Hans Rosling.

In his book, ‘Factfulness,’ Rosling outlines the countless ways that the world has become a better place over the past century – important global context, he says, for the problems that preoccupy our minds and color our perspectives.